I tried to do a post yesterday, but Telikom was up to its usual tricks and our internet connection was useless. I’ll make up for it today with a long post and plenty of pictures. This post begins a new category called PNG Culture. Many of my readers are not PNG residents. I’m going to try to put up some answers to some of the many questions about PNG that I have been asked over the years.

Yesterday I went over to the market for the first time this year. I don’t go to the market very often, but I always enjoy it when I do. For PNG residents this will be very familiar. I hope that some readers who have never been to a tropical marketplace will enjoy the photos.

I’ll let the photos mostly speak for themselves. On second thought, I’ll give you a lesson in Neo-Melanesian (Melanesian Pidgin or Tok Pisin).

If you’re going shopping, you’ll need a bag. Little goes to waste here. I see one bag that contained rice from Vietnam. The Pidgin word for bag is (too easy) beg – pronounced half-way between bag and beg, though some people end it with a K and not a G sound:

Strange items catch my eye. Want some giant beans? Again, the Pidgin word is easy. It’s bin – pronounced as bean:

Veggie freaks will salivate. There is really no word in Pidgin for vegetables. The closest term would probably be kaikai bilong gaden which means food of the garden:

This cabbage man is proud of his produce. Pidgin for cabbage is kabis pronounced like cahb-ees:

A new dress? Why not? There are plenty of them floating in the breeze. The Pidgin words would be dres or meri blaus (woman’s dress):

If you enjoy your fish strong and stinky, you’ve found the right place. The Pidgin word for fish would be (hold on) pis which is pronounced as piss. (Actully, it sounds more like peace, but nevermind.) Fortunately, the term for urination is different – it’s pispis, pronounced just like you imagine:

Or, how about some tasty sweet potatoes? In Pidgin the sweet potato is called kaukau, pronounced like cow-cow:

I get thirsty in the sun. The juice inside of a green coconut is delicious and very good for you. Coconuts are kokonas, but green ones are kulau and brown ones are drai (dry). This nice young lady will pop the top of a kulau for you in a few seconds. Drink it right from the shell:

Had a drink? Okay, how about some peanuts. Pidgin for peanuts is easy – pinas, pronounced as peen-ahs: 

And, some nice sweet tangerines. These are tree-ripened and very sweet. The aroma in this area is heavenly. Pretty much all citrus fruits are called the same thing in Pidgin – muli, pronounced like moo-lee:

I’ll just grab some of this local tobacco for my pipe. The Pidgin word for tobacco is brus, pronounced as the man’s name Bruce: 

Okay, now you’re set to go to the market. Next lesson – what do you use for money?

Stay tuned

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This entry was posted on Friday, July 11th, 2008 at 08:55 and is filed under PNG Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.